A curious thing happened in Pilot Mountain Monday night.

The board of commissioners went into a closed session, stating it was going to discuss personnel issues, yet Mayor Earl Sheppard did not attend the closed session.

There is no other way to say this: That is simply strange.

We are somewhat skeptical any time a public body slips into a closed session. Too many times over the years we’ve witnessed publicly elected governments call for a closed session, citing some state regulation which permits — but in no way requires — a closed session.

Small governments all across the state seem to make closed sessions a routine part of their meetings, as if it is an entitlement to hold part of the deliberations of governing away from the public that is being governed.

We have often and will continue to take issue with this practice.

Monday night, however, the Pilot Mountain board went into a closed session to discuss personnel issues, yet the mayor — the person elected by the residents of that town to lead the board — was not part of the closed-door meeting.

Which prompts us to ask, why not?